There are now paid tools that promise to track your “AI visibility”. For a local business with one or two locations, you can get most of the same insight with a spreadsheet, four browser tabs and half an hour a month.
The aim isn’t a precise score. AI answers change from one ask to the next, so precision is a fantasy anyway. The aim is to spot patterns: are you mentioned at all, are the facts right, and who keeps getting recommended instead of you.
Before you start: set up a fair test
AI tools personalise answers based on your history, your account and your location. If you ask ChatGPT about your own business every week, it may start mentioning you more often to you, and nobody else.
So:
- Use a private or incognito window for each tool, and stay logged out where the tool allows it. Where you have to log in, use an account that isn’t tied to your business.
- Ask from your area, or say the area in the prompt. A Ballina business tested from a Brisbane hotel will get Brisbane results unless the prompt names the town.
- Use the same prompts every month. Changing the wording makes month to month comparison meaningless.
- Ask each prompt twice. If you get two different answers, record both. That variation is information.
The tools worth checking for most Australian small businesses: Google (AI Overviews in normal results, plus the AI Mode tab), ChatGPT, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. If your customers skew younger or more technical, add Perplexity.
The prompts
Write eight to ten prompts, based on how your customers actually ask. Mix these five types.
1. The plain category search
Who are the best electricians in Ballina?
Recommend a psychologist in Lismore.
2. The specific need
This is where small businesses can win, because the big players don’t cover every niche.
I need someone to install a split system air conditioner in Lennox Head this week. Who should I call?
Which audiologists in the Northern Rivers do hearing tests for young kids?
3. The comparison
What’s the difference between [your business] and [your main competitor]?
4. The brand check
What can you tell me about [your business name] in [town]?
This one tests whether the tool knows the facts about you: services, location, hours, what people say in reviews.
5. The problem question
Many people don’t ask for a business. They ask about their problem, and the AI suggests who can help.
My hot water system is leaking from the bottom. What should I do? I’m in Alstonville.
What’s causing the ringing in my ears and who can I see about it near Byron Bay?
Avoid prompts that mention your business name in category questions. “Is Smith Plumbing a good plumber in Ballina?” will almost always get a yes, which tells you nothing.
What to record
A simple spreadsheet works. One row per prompt, per tool, per month. These columns are enough:
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Date | When you ran it |
| Tool | Google AI Overview, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot |
| Prompt | Copied exactly from your list |
| Mentioned? | Yes, no, or “only on the second ask” |
| Position | First named, second, third, or listed lower |
| Facts correct? | Note any wrong hours, services, areas or names |
| Sources shown | Which websites the tool linked or cited |
| Competitors named | Who got recommended instead |
| Notes | Anything odd, such as a closed business being recommended |
The sources column is the most useful one, and the one most people skip. When an AI tool shows its sources, it’s telling you where it got its information. If every answer cites the same local directory, the same review site or a competitor’s blog post, that’s where to focus.
Take a screenshot of any answer that’s notably good or bad. Answers can’t be reproduced later, and screenshots settle arguments.
Reading the results
After two or three months, you’ll start to see patterns. These are the common ones and what they usually mean.
You’re never mentioned, for any prompt. The tools don’t have enough information to connect you to your category and area. Start with the basics: is your website indexed in Google and Bing, does it say plainly what you do and where, and is your Google Business Profile complete? Our article on why your Google Business Profile matters even more in AI search covers the profile side.
You’re mentioned for brand prompts but not category prompts. The tools know you exist but don’t see you as a leading option. That usually comes down to reviews (count, recency, what they say) and independent mentions on other sites, which is local SEO work more than website work.
You’re mentioned in Google’s AI but not ChatGPT or Copilot. Check Bing. Search for your business on bing.com and see what comes up. If your Bing Places listing is missing or wrong, fix that first.
You’re mentioned for niche prompts but not broad ones. That’s normal, and fine. Broad prompts tend to favour businesses with lots of reviews and long histories. Niche prompts are where specific service pages pay off. Lean into them.
The facts are wrong. Find where the wrong information lives. It’s usually an old directory listing, an outdated page on your own site, or a profile you forgot about. Fix the source and recheck in a month or two. Don’t expect overnight changes, since the tools need to re-read those pages.
A competitor appears every time. Look at what they have that you don’t. Often it’s not clever. They have 140 reviews to your 25, or a page for every service and town while you have one page listing everything.
Add Google’s own data
Google now gives you real numbers for its AI features. Search Console’s Generative AI performance report shows how often your pages appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode, which pages and from which countries. It only appears once your site has enough AI impressions, so smaller sites may not see it yet.
It doesn’t tell you about ChatGPT or Gemini, but it’s measured data rather than a sample, so add a line for it to your monthly sheet if you have it. Google’s own guide to generative AI features is blunt that no third party tool can see inside its AI systems, which is worth remembering when someone tries to sell you an “AI ranking score”.
A realistic schedule
- Month 1: Write your prompts, run the full set, set a baseline.
- Monthly after that: Rerun the set. It takes 20 to 30 minutes once you’re used to it.
- Every three months: Review the patterns, pick one or two things to fix, and do them.
If you change something significant (a new service page, a cleaned up Business Profile), note the date in your sheet so you can see whether answers shift afterwards. Correlation isn’t proof, but over a year the picture gets clear. Our explainer on how AI search finds businesses gives background on why these fixes work.
Running these checks and acting on them is what our AI search service is built around. If you’ve kept the sheet for a month and can’t see a pattern yet, share your results with us and we’ll point out the first fix.